When the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League announced itself in 2021, its brand promise was “Golf, but Louder.” Throw off the shackles of the hidebound PGA Tour traditions. Fifty-four holes. Players wearing shorts in competition. Contemporary dance music playing around the course. The promise of exciting team play. And, of course, the many big-name PGA Tour players who took hundreds of millions of dollars from the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to migrate to LIV. It was sold as a revolution in golf, but it was brought to you by a then-65-year-old Greg Norman and a 50-year-old Saudi businessman, Yasir Al- Rumayyan. Perhaps that was its downfall.
As it turned out, LIV never really lived up to its brand as an “in-your-face” golf experience. Turns out, it wasn’t really that different than the old fuddy-duddy PGA Tour, with its long pants and disco-free fairways. Like the PGA Tour, LIV is still a bunch of plus-handicap dudes strolling fairways, hitting shots and using AimPoint (sometimes) in competitive golf tournaments for big-time prize money. Or, as many people would call it, “Boring!”
Which, in a roundabout way, brings us to the young man on the cover of this month’s Chicago District Golfer. His name is Tom “Bubbie” Broders, an Evans Scholar from Palatine. Bubbie, along with his friends at Good Good Golf and other golf social media influencers, have done more to revolutionize golf’s youth culture than all the money in Yasir’s Saudi sovereign wealth fund could. Why? Because these young men and women – including people like glamour girl golfer Paige Spiranic and Chicagoan Roger Steele (both of whom have graced the cover of this magazine) – have used social media to build direct connections to their fans, who are their “market.” They’ve built their brands organically from the ground up. The golf they play on their YouTube channels isn’t the serious kind played on the PGA Tour or LIV. It’s golf designed solely to entertain. They earn money only when their fans tune in to their YouTube pages; no wonder they’re so responsive to their market. In that way, these young, mostly American social media entrepreneurs have changed golf in a way LIV promised to but never did. Bubbie’s story is a fascinating one; I think you’ll find he’s a likable young man. And, if you want to see him live and in person, he’ll be at the Chicago Golf Show® presented by the CDGA Feb. 27-March 1.
Just because LIV Golf hasn’t taken hold in the U.S. market doesn’t mean its influence isn’t being felt on the PGA Tour. The number of fully exempt players on the PGA Tour now is 100 instead of 125, thanks in part to LIV. That means something to our local heroes, including Doug Ghim, Nick Hardy and others. Our nimble correspondent Matt Harness has an item in our Around the CDGA section that explains it all. Meanwhile, Bob Harig, who has been covering pro golf since Tiger Woods was in high school, has a Final Word column that contemplates the future of the PGA Tour under the Tour’s new CEO Brian Rolapp, former No. 2 man at the NFL.
Three excellent writers will enlighten you on various topics this month. Ed Sherman has an update on the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club in September. Adam Schupak has a story about Lee Smith, a Central Illinois native who now runs The Players Championship. Last, but certainly never least, David A.F. Sweet presents a piece about par-3 courses and how their appeal is growing.
Speaking of the Chicago Golf Show, the annual event is the unofficial kickoff of the golf season. In addition to the CDGA, staff from the PGA Tour’s Presidents Cup will be on hand to provide information and, yes, sell tickets. Other local golf bodies will be there, too, including the Illinois PGA (IPGA), the Illinois Junior Golf Association and the Western Golf Association. IPGA pros will be giving free golf lessons at the indoor driving range. Attendees can get a free round of golf courtesy of GolfVisions, which operates about a dozen courses in the area. Bubbie will be on stage at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday; he also is bringing his massive Good Good Golf booth from the PGA Merchandise Show to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. Joining the show again this year will be Hank Haney, Tiger Woods’ former coach and one of the most revered teachers in the world. Last year, Hank’s presentation and stories captivated the crowd. For more information on the show, visit ChicagoGolfShow.com.
